[Thomas Fleming, Editor of Chronicles Magazine, explains his Foreword to Chronicles' November Special Issue on Immigration, which some of our readers found depressing. For Peter Brimelow's comments on Fleming's Foreword, click here. For Brimelow's answer to this letter, click here...]

Dear Peter:

I wrote the foreword to our issue with the deliberate intention of provoking our allies in the struggle for a sane immigration policy into looking at the world we are really living in. You have quite fairly, I think, represented my views and intentions.

I do have one small point to add: that in any struggle, whether local or global, you can never win if you do not fight, and you cannot fight to any purpose unless you recognize the situation you are in. On both left and right, as I have observed for many years, most people would rather say things to make themselves feel good about themselves, their cause, their country than look honestly at reality and plan effective action. For years we had to endure the delusional twaddle from conservatives lauding the accomplishments of the "Reagan Revolution" as the country's health and culture was getting worse every day. The country I was born in, a pale reflection of even the imperial democracy established by Lincoln and only a ghost of the old republic, is now dead. We can, of course, pretend that everything is hunky-dory; we can also do what is equally fantastic and pretend that we are winning the battle—a favorite tactic of libertarian fund-raisers; or we can face the fact that we are losing on every front: cultural, political, and demographic.

Supposing I am right, what then? I am not suggesting that like Miniver Cheevy we indulge in sentimental nostalgia for the good old days of Euro-America. While we are perfectly right to celebrate the accomplishments and cultural achievements of earlier generations of Americans and Europeans, I think we must also emulate those who weathered hard times with stubborn good grace. If there are those who offer a practical political strategy, which must include either taking over the GOP or forming an effective Third Party, I am all for it. But if people want me to waste my time, energy, and money whining about what the minorities are doing to our country, when in fact the destruction is being wrought by the straight white European males who have owned and operated this nation from the beginning and in large measure still do, then they can take my name out of their data base.

What really surprises me, by the way, are the "nationalist" Republicans who say immigration is an important issue, but then turn around, out of fear of Clinton and Gore, and vote for the lesser of two evils. People who vote for George Bush or Orrin Hatch or any of the other Republican destroyers of our freedom and civilization have a lot to answer for.

We cannot organize a political party or movement on the limited basis of immigration or even anti-globalism. It is always fairly easy to cobble together single-issue coalitions on the basis of what people are against. The harder task, though one that is an absolute necessity, is the formation of a movement based on what we are for. I make no secret of what we stand for: the civilization of the West, the Christian religion that sustained and revived that civilization, a limited and decentralized constitutional government that would vigorously defend American interests while preserving and leaving in peace the real communities in which people work, rear their families, and create whatever is useful, true, and beautiful.

However, far too few of the people who share our views on immigration and globalism are willing to take their stand with us on the broader questions. Many of them make no secret of their loathing of Christianity as a "Jewish cult". The very people who should be defending our civilization would like to tear it up from its roots and wipe out the last 1500 years. I don't care, frankly, what such people believe in their hearts. If they want to build little shrines to Odin and sacrifice a couple of pounds of ribs and chicken on the barbecue to their strong Nordic god, I have no objection. But if they have a drop of sanity or the slightest loyalty to America and its European heritage, why can't they keep silent about their little fantasies and avoid alienating the overwhelming majority of European Americans who describe themselves as Christians. In other words, why can't they grow up?

But so many of them prefer their little Sci-Fi fantasies about a once and future kingdom of the Great White Race. Just make this a white man's country again, and everything will be all right. Well, it won't be. White people ruined this country, out of greed, cynicism, and impotence. While we are fighting the big battles to reassert American control over American sovereignty (our border, our markets, our security), we had better be doing our best to revive the dying organism of American civilization.

We at Chronicles are not "giving up" on the immigration question—the November issue is one of the most hard-hitting we have done—but we are not going to lie about the predicament we are in or squander all our precious resources on the fruitless and self-serving crusades of the think-tank and lobbies whose leaders insist upon reducing a profound question of culture and civilization down to the trivial level of economics. If we accept their arguments, the best thing America could do would be to import 100 million hardworking Asians.

VDARE.COM is an important voice for those who want to rescue America from the disastrous and destructive policies pursued by Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives. It is too bad that not all its readers and allies can think through these issues as clearly as our friend and co-belligerent, Peter Brimelow.

Keep up the good fight,

Tom Fleming

PS We haven't posted my piece because our magazine loses over half a million dollars a year, because so many so-called conservatives are too cheap to subscribe. If you want to know why all conservative movements fail, it is from the lack of loyalty of the members.

Peter Brimelow replies: Thanks, Tom.

My own judgment is that a political movement could be built around immigration and National Question issues: I regard recent election results in Australia and Denmark as yet more evidence. And I think the U.S. conservative movement has more problems with its leaders than its followers. None of this detracts from Tom's broader concerns.

Funny thing, we don't see many Odinists around here at VDARE.COM. Can't remember one, as a matter of fact, although (at the risk of sounding Nordicist) James Fulford's last name is that of the battle in which the Anglo-Saxons were defeated by the great Viking leader Harold Hardrada.